Propelling mechanism for boats



March 29, 1955 A. ALFARO PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR BOATS Filed Feb. 20, 1953 A gust/n r .Alfaro v INVENTOR.

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United States Patent PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR BOATS Agustin Alfaro, New Orleans, La.

Application February 20, 1953, Serial No. 337,912

1 Claim. (Cl. 115-24) This invention relates to boats and more particularly to a mechanism for propelling the same which is subject to manual manipulation and requires no other source of external power.

An object of this invention is to provide a propelling mechanism for boats which incorporates a manually actuated lever which drives, through a reduction gear train, a propeller shaft imparting motion to the boat.

Another object of this invention is to provide a propelling mechanism for boats which includes a manually actuated lever or lever mechanism which includes a foot rest and a hand grip so that the propelling mechanism may be actuated by foot and hand pressure of a user.

Another object of this invention is to provide a boat propelling mechanism which includes a flywheel in its gear train which is normally driven at a relatively high rate of speed to derive more useful and even power for the propelling mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide a boat propelling mechanism which may be installed or removed as a unit upon any existing small boat with a minimum of modification thereto.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a row boat or the like having the novel propelling means secured thereto;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken substantially along the plane of section line 22 in Figure 1 and in showing the details of the propelling mechanism on enlarged scale.

Referring now more particularly to drawings, reference numeral indicates generally a small boat such as a row boat or the like which includes a bottom 12, a stern transom 14, a bow seat 16, and a transverse center seat 18. The boat also includes the usual sides or gunwales 20 to which the transverse seat 18 is secured. In adapting the invention to an existing boat, the stern transom 14 is provided with a combined seal and bearing 22 through which a propeller shaft 24 extends and which is provided with a propeller 26 at its lower end below the water line of the boat. The upper end of the propeller shaft is provided with a driven gear 28 suitably secured thereto and a bearing cap 30 and vertical bracket 32 rotatably receives the upper end portion of this shaft to impart rigidity thereto.

A platform or base 32 is secured by any suitable means to the bottom of the boat and is provided along either side of its length with a plurality of brackets 36 which are secured at their lower ends to the platform and extend upwardly therefrom to present at their upper ends a plurality of pairs of transversely spaced and aligned bearing assemblies. Each of the bearing assemblies includes a bearing cap 38 similar to the cap 30 previously described. The forward pair of aligned bearings journal opposite ends of an oscillating actuating shaft 40 and a pair of actuating uprights 42 are welded or otherwise suitably secured to an intermediate portion of the actuating shaft, the lower ends of these members being provided with a horizontal foot rest bar 44 and the upper free ends of these members being provided with a horizontal hand grip bar 46. It will be readily apparent that a person sitting on the transverse seat 18 may position his feet on the horizontal bar 44 and his hands on the horizontal bar 46 so that by a combination of pushing and pulling operations with his feet and hands, the actuating shaft 40 may be oscillated.

2,704,990 Patented Mar. 29, 1955 A connecting rod 48 is provided with bearings 50 at its opposite ends and one end is pivotly secured to the foot rest bar 44 while the other end is pivoted to the crank journal of a crank arm 52 which is formed in the first idler shaft 54 journalled in another of the pairs of aligned bearings. This shaft carries a gear 56 which meshes with another gear 58 which is secured to the second idler shaft 60 and the latter gear meshes with a small pinion gear 62 secured to the third idler shaft 64. The third idler shaft is provided with another and larger gear 66 which, in turn, meshes with a smaller gear 68 which is secured to a final drive shaft 70 imparting final drive to the propeller shaft 24 by engagement of the bevelled gear 72 with the driven gear 28.

A flywheel 74 is secured to the third idler shaft 64 and it will be readily apparent that this flywheel and shaft will normally rotate substantially faster than the first and second idler shafts due to the step up in gearing provided by the engagement of gears 58 and 62.

In operation, a user sits on the transverse seat 18 and manipulates the actuating member backwards and forwards to impart rotation to the first idler shaft 54 which through the gear train 58, 62, 66, 68, and 72 imparts rotary motion to the propeller shaft and consequent motion of the boat. Due to the fact that with the excepion of the bearing and seal 22 the unit, is mounted entirely upon the platform 34, it may be conveniently removed or installed in any existing boat, theonly necessary modification being that of installing the combined bearing and seal 22.

In this manner, an eflicient and economical propelling mechanism for small boats is provided.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is new is as follows:

A propelling mechanism for boats comprising a propeller shaft adapted to be mounted in a boat with one end projecting therefrom, a propeller at said one end and a driven gear secured to the other end of said shaft, a pivot shaft adapted to be rotatably mounted in a boat in spaced relation to said propeller shaft, a pair of spaced uprights secured at their mid-points to said pivot shaft, upper and lower horizontal members interconnecting the respective upper and lower ends of said uprights, said upper and lower members constituting hand grips and foot rest members respectively, a connecting rod rotatably secured to said foot rest between said uprights and extending rearwardly therefrom, a rotatable gear shaft mounted in spaced parallel relation to said pivot shaft, said gear shaft having a crank portion upon which said conecting rod is journaled and having a driving gear secured adjacent one end, and drive means interconnecting said driving and said driven gears, said drive means including a pair of spaced idler shafts, a first gear on one of said idler shafts meshing with said driving gear, a second gear on the other idler shaft meshing with said first gear, said other idler shaft being provided with a flywheel, a third gear on said other idler shaft operatively connected to said driven gear by means of a final drive shaft mounted in spaced relation to said other idler shaft, said final drive shaft being provided with a gear meshing with said third gear, and a final drive gear meshing with said driven gear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 643,490 Freund Feb. 13, 1900 946,711 Alderman Jan. 18, 1910 1,159,899 Clower Nov. 9, 1915 1,169,952 Gotautas Feb. 1, 1916 1,340,976 Pann May 25, 1920 1,420,579 Schneidenbach June 20, 1922 

